Love over Gold
Love over Gold is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Dire Straits released on 20 September 1982 by Vertigo Records internationally and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album produced two singles, "Private Investigations", which reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart, and "Industrial Disease", which reached #9 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the United States. The fourteen-minute opus "Telegraph Road" has gone on to become a big favorite on FM radio worldwide. The album reached #1 on album charts in Australia, Austria, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, and #19 in the United States. Love over Gold was later certified gold in the United States, platinum in France and Germany and double-platinum in Canada and the United Kingdom. Contents 1 Background 2 Recording 3 Release 4 Critical reception 5 Track listing 6 Personnel 7 Charts and certifications 7.1 Albums 7.2 Singles 7.3 Certifications 8 References 9 External links Background Following the end of the On Location Tour on 6 July 1981 in Luxembourg, Mark Knopfler began writing the songs for Dire Straits' next album. Alan Clark (keyboards) and Hal Lindes (guitar), who joined the band for the On Location Tour, would also be involved with the new album. Recording Love over Gold was recorded at the Power Station in New York from 8 March to 11 June 1982. Knopfler produced the album, with Neil Dorfsman as his engineer—the first in a long line of collaborations between the two. Knopfler used several guitars during the sessions, including four Schecter Stratocasters—two red, one blue, and one sunburst—a black Schecter Telecaster, an Ovation classical guitar on "Private Investigations" and "Love over Gold", a custom Erlewine Automatic on "Industrial Disease", and his 1937 National steel guitar on "Telegraph Road". Knopfler also used Ovation twelve- and six-string acoustic guitars during the recording. Several songs were written and recorded during the Love over Gold session that were not released on the album. "Private Dancer" was originally planned for the album, with all but the vocal tracks being recorded. Knopfler decided that a female voice would be more appropriate and handed the song to Tina Turner for her comeback album, Private Dancer.1 "The Way It Always Starts" ended up on Knopfler's soundtrack to the film Local Hero, with vocals sung by Gerry Rafferty. "Badges, Posters, Stickers and T-Shirts" was cut from the album and later released in the UK as a B-side to "Private Investigations". It was subsequently released in the United States as the fourth track on the ExtendedancEPlay EP. Release Love over Gold was released on 20 September 1982 on vinyl LP and cassette. "Private Investigations" was released as the lead single from the album in Europe, It reached the number 2 position in the United Kingdom. "Industrial Disease" was released as a single in the United States, reaching the 75 position on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983. The album was remastered and released with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 by Vertigo Records internationally, and in 2000 by Warner Bros. records in the United States. The remastered CD features slightly altered cover art; the album title is rendered underneath the band name, both in larger type, rather than arranged across the top. The image of lightning is also somewhat zoomed in and made brighter, making for a more purple colour. It is the only remastered Dire Straits CD with altered cover art. Critical reception Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating AllMusic 4/5 stars 2 Robert Christgau C+ 3 Rolling Stone 4/5 stars 4 In his review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album four out of five stars, noting that the addition of a new rhythm guitarist "expands its sounds and ambitions".2 Erlewine added, "Since Mark Knopfler is a skilled, tasteful guitarist, he can sustain interest even throughout the languid stretches, but the long, atmospheric, instrumental passages aren't as effective as the group's tight blues-rock, leaving Love over Gold only a fitfully engaging listen."2 In his review for Rolling Stone magazine, David Fricke gave the album four out of five stars, calling the album a "statement of purpose" and "an ambitious, sometimes difficult record that is exhilarating in its successes and, at the very least, fascinating in its indulgences."4 Fricke continued: Two drastically different moods dominate the new album. One is sharp and fiery (like the bolt of lightning on the cover); the other is soft and seductive. That dichotomy is particularly explicit in "Private Investigations", a long, unorthodox ballad in which Knopfler plays a private detective hardened by a life of combing through other people's dirty laundry. Over a discreet synthesizer ring, gurgling marimba and a delicately plucked acoustic guitar, he grumbles into his whiskey glass like Bob Dylan in a trench coat: "You get to meet all sorts in this line of work Treachery and treason There's always an excuse for it," he recites in a raspy nicotine snarl. Then John Illsley sounds a quiet warning with a stalking bass line before the song erupts in dramatic bursts of guitar gunfire and tragic-sounding piano playing. This wracking schizophrenia between the heart and the heartless, the loving and the pain, has always informed Knopfler's songs and arrangements. Love Over Gold, however, finds Knopfler casting further than ever for ways to articulate the frustrations that color his romantic streak.4 Fricke praised the album's centerpiece, "Telegraph Road", which he characterized as a "challenge to the average pop fan's attention span" with its "historic sweep and intimate tension".4 The theme of the building of America and the dashing of one man's dreams "enable Knopfler to deploy a variety of surprising instrumental voices, from the synthesized sunrise whistle at the beginning to the baroque piano motif in the middle."4 Fricke concluded that "in a period when most pop music is conceived purely as product, Love over Gold dares to put art before airplay."4 In 1986, Love over Gold had sold 4.4 million copies in Europe, whereas the album had only reached gold status in the United States by that stage.5 Track listing All songs were written by Mark Knopfler.6 No. Title Length 1. "Telegraph Road" 14:20 2. "Private Investigations" 6:47 3. "Industrial Disease" 5:50 4. "Love over Gold" 6:18 5. "It Never Rains" 8:00 Total length: 41:15 Personnel Dire Straits Mark Knopfler – vocals, guitar Hal Lindes – guitar Alan Clark – keyboards John Illsley – bass Pick Withers – drums Additional musicians Mike Mainieri – vibes, marimba (2,4) Ed Walsh – synthesizer programming Production Mark Knopfler – producer Neil Dorfsman – engineer Barry Bongiovi – assistant engineer Bob Ludwig – mastering Michae Rowe – sleeve design Alan Lobel – photography Peter Cunningham – photography7 Charts and certifications Albums Love over Gold spent 200 weeks in the UK Albums Chart.8 In Australia, the album was the twelfth best-selling album in 1982 and the sixth best-selling in 1983. Chart (1982–83) Peak Australia Albums Chart 1 Austria Albums Chart 1 Italy Albums Chart 1 New Zealand Albums Chart 1 Norway Albums Chart 1 Sweden Albums Chart 2 UK Albums Chart 1 US Billboard 200 19 Singles Year Song Peak positions US Hot 100 US Rock Australia Italy Sweden UK 1982 "Private Investigations" – – 19 28 4 2 "Industrial Disease" – 9 – – – – 1983 75 – – – – – Certifications Organisation Level Date BPI – UK Silver 27 September 1982 BPI – UK Gold9 27 September 1982 CRIA – Canada Gold 1 November 1982 CRIA – Canada Platinum 1 November 1982 BPI – UK Platinum9 15 November 1982 IFPI – Germany Gold 1982 SNEP – France Platinum 1984 BPI – UK Double Platinum9 5 August 1985 CRIA – Canada Double Platinum 12 November 1985 RIAA – USA Gold5 1 April 1986 IFPI – Germany Platinum 1987 IFPI – Finland Platinum 1982 References 1.Jump up ^ Official Community of Mark Knopfler Accessed 3 June 2007 2.^ Jump up to: a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Love Over Gold". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 December 2012. 3.Jump up ^ Christgau, Robert (2011). "Dire Straits". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 5 July 2011. 4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Fricke, David (11 November 1982). "Dire Straits: Love Over Gold". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 5 December 2012. 5.^ Jump up to: a b "Love Over Gold RIAA gold certification". www.riaa.com. 6.Jump up ^ "Love Over Gold". Discogs. Retrieved 5 December 2012. 7.Jump up ^ Love Over Gold (booklet). Dire Straits. Burbank, California: Warner Bros. Records. 1982. pp. 2, 11. 947772-2. 8.Jump up ^ "Love Over Gold". Chart Stats. 22 June 1996. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012. 9.^ Jump up to: a b c "Love Over Gold UK-BPI certifications". www.bpi.co.uk. External links Love over Gold at Mark Knopfler official website Preceded by The Kids from "Fame" by The Kids from "Fame" UK Albums Chart number one album 2 October 1982 – 29 October 1982 Succeeded by The Kids from Fame by The Kids from "Fame" Preceded by 1982 Out of the Blue by Various Artists Australian Kent Music Report number-one album 11 October 1982 – 16 January 1983 11–17 April 1983 Succeeded by The John Lennon Collection by John Lennon Category:1982 albums Category:Albums produced by Mark Knopfler Category:Dire Straits albums Category:Vertigo Records albums Category:Warner Bros. Records albums Category:English-language albums